The International Performance Art Festival "Castle of Imagination" is organized by: Society of the Friends of Contemporary Art in Slupsk & Baltic Gallery of Contemporary Art in Slupsk / Poland since 1993. The festival curates Wladyslaw Kazmierczak.

"Castle of Imagination" is the only, cyclical, international festival of performance art in Pomerania and in Poland. It is one of a few festivals of art in Europe and in the world. During 13 years, in the Festival there participated 352 artists from 33 countries: Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Japan, Holland, Slovakia, Estonia, Poland, France, Ukraine, South Korea, Lithuania, Portugal, Hungary, Honk Kong, Finland, Spain, Singapore, Czech Republic, Belgium, Northern Ireland, Byelorussia, Mexico, Israel, Yugoslavia, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, Canada, Egypt and USA.
This year 2004 we would like to extend our festival to the Krakow and Bielsko Biala, after Ustka and Slupsk.

A short description of the idea and history of the festival:

"The Castle of Imagination" in its first edition (1993) aimed at presentation of various links between traditional forms of artistic expression, such as: painting, drawing, photography and the means of expression the genesis of which can be traced back to traditional forms which take into consideration such formal aspects as: time (performance), impermanence (installations), space of place, sound and text. In 1994 the art of performance was a dominant by the many kind of forms of artistic expression. However, there were also interesting spatial installations. As in years 1993-1994 the curators of the International Meeting of Artists "Castle of Imagination" - Mr Grzegorz Borkowski and Mr Wladyslaw Kazmierczak shaping the substance of the idea of the festival in 1995 strongly emphasised its impartiality without imposing of any conditions which could be an obstacle for unconstrained projection of individual presentations. Since 1996 curator Wladyslaw Kazmierczak changed the festival into performance activity only.

The ideological background of "The Castle of Imagination" enables realization of a very important artistic mission i. e. construction of a network of connections covering all categories of art, the mission which results from the aspiration to have a global view of the human condition as a whole, the view of social, political and ecological issues.
The biggest attraction for the artists invited to "The Castle of Imagination" in 1993 -1999 was the ability of artistic appearance in the space of the historical castle, the space differentiated, which perfectly accentuated individual character of each artistic realization. Quite important was also multitude of contexts of historical references, which constituted specific discriminate of the festival. Thus, to "The Castle of Imagination" there have been and there will be invited the artists who by representing contemporary substance of art are searching for a way to be useful in the society, are involved in search of the contact which is close, real, true-not occasional.

The first International Artists Meeting the "Castle of Imagination" (1993) had been invited 32 participants from: Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Japan, Holland, Slovakia, Estonia and Poland.

In 1994 the festival hosted 33 artists from the following countries: France, Ukraine, Japan, South Korea, Lithuania, Germany, Great Britain, Portugal, Holland, the United States and Poland.

The presentations in 1995 were made by 21 artists from: Great Britain, Hungary, Hong Kong, Finland, South Korea, Singapore and Poland.

In 1999, last time in the castle in Bytow the 7th festival present 18 artists from the following countries: France, Yugoslavia, Northern Ireland, Poland, Ireland, Denmark, USA / Singapore, Hungary, Canada, Korea.

In 2000 at the 8th festival we presented 24 artists in five cities: Ustka, Slupsk, Sopot, Gdansk and Bielsko Biala. In that year we also quit the original venue e.i. castle in Bytow. We performed in the new venues: in cinema and the galleries. Performers came from: Poland, Israel, Japan, Holland, Canada, Austria, Great Britain, Hungary, Germany, USA, Slovakia, Finland, and Singapore.

In 2001 the 9th International Performance Art Festival "Castle of Imagination"

hosted performers in two cities: Ustka and Zielona Gora. The artists came from Poland, France, Holland, Canada, Japan, Czech Republic and Germany.

In 2002 the festival was located in two cities in Ustka and Slupsk. It was really intensive and controversial event of live art. Festival were in the following venues: Baltic Art Gallery in Ustka, Cinema "Delfin" in Ustka, Pub "Underground 2" in Slupsk.

In 2003 "Castle of Imagination" moved from Ustka to Gdansk and then the Polish and Americans performers went to Providence, Boston and New York City to perform at the special project "Juliett 484". The venues were exiting a lot, like an old cinema in Ustka, gallery, postindustrial space in Gdansk Shipyard, Russian submarine in Collier Point Park Providence, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Anderson Auditorium, New York Brooklyn, BPM Performance Space and New York City, Chashama 125 West 42nd Street just one hundred meters from the Time Square.